Living By Your Code

I have a Code of Honor that I live by, which I apply (or at least try my best to apply at all times) to my personal life, my business life, public life whenever, wherever. This is not a novel idea, I learnt it from reading Blair Singer's books on building great teams.

I use this code to hire people - I walk them through this list, and those who cannot or will not adhere, or even think about adhering to this list, they automatically disqualify themselves from working with me. Those who do stay, are a good fit with my working style and these values I carry. Feel free to print them out, but note that I learnt this from Blair Singer, though I fill in my preferences.

Never abandon a team mate in need. We are a team, work together to help each other.

Be willing to call and be called. If you screw up, be willing to be confronted. If I screw up, confront me. I'm okay with it. If I'm okay with you, you should be too.

Celebrate all wins, big or small. Work on the positive, no matter if it's big or small - let's enjoy the journey, whenever we can.

Be on time. No excuses, be accountable and responsible.

Keep all agreements. Fix any broken ones ASAP. Do what you said or promised. If you couldn't, apologize and provide an alternative.

Deal direct for all issues or challenges. No back stabbing or front stabbing. Either you deal with the issue by dealing directly with the "perpetrator", or you don't. Don't cause mutiny, be productive.

Be responsible. No blaming. No justifications. No excuses, be focused.

Be resourceful. What you can do, do. Whatever you can do on your own, do it yourself - don't just "dump" it on another.

Don't let personal stuff get in the way of the mission. Let personal stuff be personal stuff, let business and professional stuff be business and professional stuff.

Be loyal to the team. Don't sabotage the team - what will customers or investors think if the members sabotage each other? Be responsible and provide solutions, be it to customers or each other.

Commit to personal development. We are not perfect, so let's commit to self growth and personal development. Read books. Have an open mind. Ask questions. Nicely.

Don't ask for sympathy. If you're responsible for something that went bad, don't ask for sympathy - fix it and learn from it.

Everyone must sell! Help the company to grow in credibility, authority, sales and the quality of the service.

This is how I live my life, and how I run my business. It helps that it helps me filter out people who are not "best fit" for my business and working style from the very beginning; helps me to manage team members who break the code (even I'm not exempt from this) to manage members and provide a common platform for all to work together.

You should consider having one too, that reflects your working style and preferences, be it for personal or business reasons. You'd be surprise to find out how it can be useful even in your personal life, helping you to choose friends, teach and guide friends or family members and provide a safe ground for you to keep being the best at your level. Of course, codes can and should be revisited periodically to be updated and changed as and when you desire, as you grow in your personal development journey.

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